the skill tree

After turning off the telepathic link so the others at the Academy could rest, some of the young students in Emmett's apartment were already asleep. Only Jude, Leo, Riven, and Emmett himself remained awake. Jude wanted to get to know Emmett a little more, understanding that if they were going to be "spies" for the Storm Guild, they had to work together.

"My family was Wallborn. I don't know if you guys are Wallborn, but you know… for the most part, a lot of them make bad decisions—mainly gambling," Emmett said, his head down like he was embarrassed to even bring it up.

Riven knew all too well about this. Among the Wallborn, tax prices were steep—so steep that most people gambled just to keep their estates and have money for personal needs. Riven and Jordan's father was going down that route, too. If it wasn't for one big win, and their mother being the voice of reason, their dad might've still been gambling to this day—and likely would've made the boys lose their home.

"My father and mother both had gambling habits—to the point where I probably couldn't eat most nights. And obviously, when it comes to gambling habits, debt becomes a big thing. I love my parents, but even I have to say it wasn't healthy. The path they were going down… they would use any means to get money—even doing things in my name. That technically left me in debt too. And obviously, visitors would come to collect. With my parents not being able to pay them back, well… you can tell where that went. But even that didn't stop them. Eventually, they asked the Storm Guild for money. And once again, they gambled it all away."

Emmett paused. His eyes glistened with tears.

"But the Storm Guild is different from other debt collectors. They will get their units back—no matter what. When they came to collect, my parents couldn't pay it back. But they were able to find an alternative while still keeping some units to stay quiet. You can guess what I'm saying here."

"They sold you off," Jordan said, leaning his upper body up, showing he had been awake the whole time.

Emmett nodded.

"They gave me to the Storm Guild to be their spy—to see what the Academy was up to. And I… I don't know what Phineas does with the information I give him. Is he planning an attack on the Academy? Is he going to report them for letting kids our age go on outings? These are the questions I ask myself," Emmett admitted, saying his thoughts out loud.

"Speaking of which, does he make you do outings with the Storm Guild often? Or is he just doing it now because of our 'partnership'?" Leo asked.

"Partnership?" Emmett said with a chuckle, but quickly stopped when he saw how serious the others were. He then grabbed a marker and a dry-erase board. After a moment, he showed them what he had written:

"There is no partnership.

Phineas might seem like a trustworthy man, but as soon as he gets what he wants from you he'll most likely throw you to the curb."

Emmett quickly wiped the board clean and started writing again, this time using his body to block the board.

"They've got cameras in here," Jude thought. Even though the telepathic link was off, the others had likely come to the same deduction.

Emmett then revealed a new message:

"In my opinion, you should and shouldn't join the Storm Guild."

He erased it, then wrote:

"Phineas does care about his guildmates. But He cares about rising up to join the Families way more. He'll sacrifice anything to do it—including his own people."

He erased again and wrote one final message:

"Out of everyone here, you're the biggest loose ends. If you stop being useful or interesting, he'll find a way to get rid of you without leaving a trace."

Emmett didn't speak, but the look on his face said he meant every word.

Riven immediately reactivated the telepathic link, but only invited those in the room—not wanting too many voices.

"Any thoughts on what we should do now?" Riven asked.

"I might have something," Jude said. "We could try to set the portal somewhere on the world where the outing takes place. But the problem is that guy's seen our faces. And there's Emmett."

"I don't think he'll make a move against us," Jordan replied. "Remember what he said about that organization that might be after us? He didn't even want to deal with us at first because he was scared. Maybe they'll stop him from trying anything."

"Yeah, but that also leaves that organization," Leo added. "They might want you, Harkel, Joey, and Riven. Are you sure you want to fall into their hands?"

"You guys are forgetting the biggest thing," Riven joined in. "Emmett said , 'if' meaning that they might not be able to replicate the awakening potion. There's a chance they could, but it's a slim one."

"But wait, what if you're wrong?" Jude questioned.

"Then we'll quickly hop into the portal and destroy it from the other side—or just throw it into the system space. Who knows where they'd end up if they tried to chase us," Riven replied.

"Fine—but your plan has a ton of holes in it," Jude said.

"True. But you can't think of a better one," Riven shot back.

After an hour, most of the group fell asleep. Except Riven. He couldn't sleep.

"God, why can't I sleep?" he thought to himself. "Why?"

He stared at the ceiling.

"Why are we here? Why am I here? My brother was probably right about expanding our group… but truthfully, I was an idiot for thinking we could come here so soon. I mean, who knows where that portal could've led us. I took a big risk leading the group here."

That word stuck with him.

"Lead… huh. When did I become a leader? Truth is, they just follow me because of my Forced-Evolved Ability. So I'm not really a leader—just someone they follow for power."

He sighed.

"Well, since I'm up, might as well claim the quest for escaping the Grand Capital."

He opened the system.

[System: Good work on your quick escape. Depending on how you escaped the capital, your reward has been adjusted.]

[Reward: 5000 EXP earned.]

It wasn't a huge reward for him or his veteran bounded members, but for the newer ones, it was solid. He checked their stats:

⸻

Nico Grey – Level 24

• Strength: 26

• Speed: 30

• Durability: 23

Kira Thomas – Level 13

• Strength: 24

• Speed: 23

• Durability: 23

Luka Thomas – Level 20

• Strength: 27

• Speed: 26

• Durability: 25

Jude Walker – Level 21

• Strength: 31

• Speed: 25

• Durability: 29

Skye Vank – Level 15

• Strength: 20

• Speed: 23

• Durability: 17

⸻

"Just as I thought—they leveled up quite a bit. With 25 unspent attribute points, I should finally be able to see what the skill tree's all about," Riven thought.

Then the system popped up again.

[System: You escaped to Storm Guild territory. This is your additional reward.]

[New item received – Flash Portal]

Flash Portal:

A portal that stays open for up to 1 hour. After activation, it goes on a 7-day cooldown.

Allows instant teleportation to the Storm Guild base. You can also set a custom teleportation spot.

Riven coughed. This was huge. They didn't even need to plant a new portal—the Flash Portal already got them back to the base. The 7-day cooldown was a problem, but still…

Now that he had some quiet time, he decided to explore his newly obtained skill tree. He looked through his copied abilities—some familiar, some. He didn't see the deactivation ability that shut down his system earlier. Most likely, the system couldn't compute it. But it gave him insight into how his true ability worked. When the woman had deactivated his system, he lost everything—gravity, teleportation, all of his stats and levels. That made him remember that the system wasn't just a skill—it was his evolution.

Next was the man with the blood-based ability. It seemed powerful, but using it would require constant injury.

"No thanks."

Then came Joey's Light Affinity.

He hesitated, just like he did when thinking about copying Jordan's power. But this time, he didn't want it to go to waste.

He took it.

[Light Affinity Copied]

[Skill Tree Path Unlocked]

"Now… let's see what this tree's all about."

When Riven clicked on the skill tree tab, his body collapsed—his consciousness yanked into darkness.

When he opened his eyes again, he was surrounded by four flames.

Gray.

Purple.

White.

Gold.

Each one flickered with power.

A voice echoed through the space:

[Pick what path you would like to go down first.]

The gray one, representing the system, didn't work.

[System: No skill tree found.]

He expected that. So, he approached the golden flame—Light Affinity.

The void shimmered. Golden energy spiraled around him. Then…

⸻

[Light Affinity Skill Tree: Path of Radiance Initiated]

[Unspent Stat Points: 25]

⸻

Node I: Lumen Spark (Unlocked)

• Grants a passive glow that improves visibility in darkness.

• +5 Perception in nighttime or shadowed areas.

• Light-based skills deal +10% more to darkness-aligned enemies.

⸻

Node II: Sunlash (Cost: 7)

• Whip of searing light.

• Damage scales with Speed + Light Affinity.

• 15% chance to blind target for 2 seconds.

⸻

Node III: Aegis of Morning (Cost: 7)

• Radiant barrier blocks one hit.

• Scales with Durability, resets every 90s.

• If broken, emits a flash, reducing damage taken by 15% for 5 seconds.

⸻

Node IV: Beacon's Call (Cost: 8)

• Heals allies for 10% of max HP.

• Increases dark resistance by 20% for 30s.

• Cooldown: 60 seconds.

⸻

Node V: Radiant Walk (Cost: 8)

• Phase through enemies.

• Removes debuffs.

• Leaves DOT trail.

• 0.5 sec invincibility on activation.

⸻

Deeper in the realm, behind glowing glyphs, was a sealed gate:

[Locked: Radiant Core – Ultimate Light Form]

Unlock 20 Light Affinity Skills to access.

Transformation-type. Temporarily alters stats, skills, and form.

Riven spent 25 stat points to unlock all available nodes, saving future points for stronger ones later.

He exited the tree—and shot awake.

Everyone was still asleep.

"I guess that was everything," Riven muttered.

Then he remembered one more thing. He opened the copy tab… and looked at the werewolf ability.

"Should I…? Would I even be able to turn back?"

The thoughts lingered—but it was late.

Riven laid back down.

As Sleep finally came.